A P Legislature Winter Session At Hyderabad

The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to hold the winter session of the State legislature at Hyderabad itself, dropping for now plans to build a temporary building in the upcoming capital Amaravathi.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu took the decision when Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao met him in Vijayawada on Monday.

According to officials, they discussed the plans for the conduct of the winter and budget sessions of the legislature in Andhra Pradesh. However, due to lack of time and also budget constraints, it was decided to conduct the winter session scheduled for December in the existing Assembly building in Hyderabad itself. (Hyderabad is the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.)

An all-Party meeting called for by the Speaker last week had originally decided to conduct the winter session at the Tullur village in the Guntur district. It was decided that a temporary structure would be constructed on a five-acre site in the village, which is part of the new State capital Amaravathi. However since the construction of even a temporary building was estimated to cost Rs. 12 crores, the Speaker had left the final decision to the Chief Minister.

Though the Chief Minister has been operating from Vijayawada for the last few weeks, the bulk of the state administration is still based in Hyderabad.